Bitten by a Black Widow Spider

choi

Jackson Landers, Along Came a Spider; A nature writer’s fateful encounter with a black widow. Sept 17, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/1 ... th-black-widows.htm
(“The drug, Analatro, was made in sheep rather than horses, and was processed differently, so it had fewer impurities to which the body could react”)

Excerpt in the window of print: Despite their fearsome reputation, black widows are surprisingly shy and retiring.

Note:
(a) Offerman SR et al, The Treatment of Black Widow Spider Envenomation with Antivenin Latrodectus Mactans: A Case Series. Permanent Journal, 15: 76-81 (2011).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3200105/

Bites by black widow spiders (Latrodectus mactans) "are relatively uncommon * * * with over 2500 reported to American poison control centers annually

"The significant pain associated with envenomation is often refractory to traditional analgesics [even morphine].

"Black widow spiders are one of only a few spiders with the ability to cause a poisonous bite to humans. Only female widow spiders [identified by the hourglass pattern (red or orange in color) on the ventral aspect of their shiny, black abdomen] are dangerous [because the smaller male does not have enough poison]. * * * Bites are usually defensive, occurring when the spider is accidentally disturbed. * * * There are no known cases of death resulting from envenomation by the widow species found in the US.

"This controversy [of using equine-based antivenim] stems primarily from a single reported case of fatal hypersensitivity [or anaphylactic shock] related to spider antivenom administration.

* The four cases reported here had symptoms and dramatic improvement following antivenim drip, similar to those in the NYT article.

(b) The traditional treatment: an antiserum from horse.

Antivenin (Latrodectus mactans) (black widow spider antivenin) equine origin. [from] Merck & Co, Inc. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), undated (9911917)
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Bio ... ducts/UCM199729.pdf
(section heading "Indications and Usage")

(c)  
(i) Latrodectus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectus
(a genus of 32 species)

Quote: "The common name widow spiders is sometimes applied to members of the genus due to a behaviour seen in some species in which the female eats the male after mating. * * * however, contrary to popular belief, females of some species rarely eat their partners after mating and much of the documented evidence for mate cannibalism has taken place in laboratory cages where the males could not escape.

(ii) Latrodectus. Wiktionary, undated
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Latrodectus
(From Latin latro (“brigand”) + dectus, Latinized form of Greek δηκτός (diktós, “biting”))
(iii) brigand (n; more at BRIGADE):
"one who lives by plunder usually as a member of a band : BANDIT"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brigand

(d) Taiwan does not have black widow spiders.
(i) Chang Chin-ju, A World of Webs-- In Search of Taiwan's Spiders, Panorama, July 2002
http://www.taiwanpanorama.com.tw ... d=200279107086e.txt
("As for the most poisonous of all spiders--the black widow--Taiwan has only one species of the same genus: the redback spider (Lactrodectus hasselti). Because redbacks live in areas rarely visited by humans, to date there have only been occasional reported sightings. Chen Shyh-hwang, who has been researching spiders for over ten years, has only seen one, at Mt. Chiuchiu in Nantou County")
(ii) redback spider
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redback_spider
(Latrodectus hasseltii)